Citizens for Public Justice

On June 6, Finance Minister Jim Flaherty introduced a new 2011 Budget. (The March Budget was not adopted before the government was defeated in the House of Commons). The June Budget only contained two new provisions: the elimination of the subsidies for political parties and a $2.2 billion transfer to Quebec in support of tax harmonization. Because the June Budget is essentially the same as the March Budget, we re-offer here our commentary on the March Budget.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Ottawa, ON: June 3, 2011 – The Speech from the Throne heralding the start of the 41st Parliament held no surprises, a few bright lights and some important gaps.

Citizens for Public Justice greeted with pleasure the commitment to permanently enhance the Guaranteed Income Supplement for Canada’s seniors. It was also encouraging to see the acknowledgement of several key Aboriginal issues, namely access to clean water and the need for improvements to education.

“We were glad to see that the new government realizes the import

Finance Minister Jim Flaherty said “Leadership is about finding a balance between needs,” but unfortunately he delivered a budget that ignored the needs of Canadians. Budget 2011 revealed that the government’s priorities are vastly different than the priorities of Canadians. While Canadians want and need a response to social and environmental deficits, Budget 2011 offered a jobs-based approach to economic recovery, a few social policy crumbs, and more “boutique taxes.” Budget 2011 was rich in rhetoric and poor in action, proposing tinkering rather than real change.

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Ottawa, ON: March 23, 2011 – Citizens for Public Justice (CPJ) is disappointed that the federal budget did not address the real needs of Canadians, ignoring the social and environmental deficits.“This budget offers tinkering instead of real change,” said Joe Gunn, executive director. “Instead of a poverty elimination strategy, the government is pursuing a jobs-based approach to recovery that just isn’t sufficient.”

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Ottawa, ON: ​Monday March 7, 2011 – This afternoon, the federal government released its response to the Parliamentary report Federal Poverty Reduction Plan: Working in Partnership Towards Reducing Poverty in Canada. And with it, Citizens for Public Justice’s hope for Ottawa to meaningfully engage in poverty reduction efforts evaporated.

March 2011

Read the Statement

Interfaith declaration for federal action on poverty in Canada.

November 2010

Read the letter

Letter to Minister Diane Finley encouraging a response to the House of Commons committee study on the federal role in addressing poverty

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Ottawa, ON: November 18, 2010 – Citizens for Public Justice applauds the Parliamentary Committee on Human Resources and Skills Development (HUMA) for their resounding endorsement of the need for a federal poverty reduction plan.

Poverty is about more than money. It is a complex issue that requires a comprehensive approach that addresses housing, childcare and social exclusion – in addition to living wages and income supports. CPJ was very pleased to see an understanding of this complexity in “Federal Poverty Reduction Plan: Working in Partnership Towards Reducing Poverty in Canada,” the HUMA Committee report released this afternoon.